The Ultimate Animal Camouflage Quiz

Imagine if you could change your skin color to blend in with your surroundings. How many awkward opportunities could you avoid? Some animals have this intriguing ability and most of them use it for camouflage. Take this quiz to see how much you know about animal camouflage.

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Question 1 of 20

Why do animals use camouflage?

to attract a mate

to hide from predators

Animals use natural camouflage as a way of hiding themselves from predators.

to capture prey

Question 2 of 20

Some animals use color as protection, but not for camouflage. How else do animals use color for protection?

to make themselves look dangerous

Some animals use color to make themselves look dangerous or to make themselves look uninteresting, thereby throwing off predators.

to make themselves look attractive

to make themselves look innocent

Question 3 of 20

What determines the type of camouflage a species develops?

the physiology of the animal

the environment of the animal

both of the above

Animals develop camouflage according to their physiology, behavior, environment and the type of predators that the animal faces. Animals that stay together in groups will have different camouflage to those who exist alone and an animal whose predator is color-blind will not need to match the color of its surroundings.

Question 4 of 20

What are biochromes?

cells that change color according to diet

natural pigments in an animals body that chemically produce colors

Biochromes are one of the ways in which animals produce different colors. Biochromes are microscopic, natural pigments in the animals body whose chemical makeup is such that they absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others. The visible color of the pigment is the light that is reflected.

microscopic physical structures that scatter light

Question 5 of 20

How else is color produced in an animal besides for the chemical method of biochromes?

using prism-like structures to refract light

Animals may also alter their color using microscopic physical structures that act like prisms and refract and scatter light, making different color combinations visible to the eye.

via hormonal changes that cause skin pigment to alter

using an optical illusion effect

Question 6 of 20

What color is the skin of polar bears?

white

black

Polar bears actually have black skin. However, polar bears have translucent hairs that bend light that hits them, deflecting it back and producing a white color.

pink

Question 7 of 20

How do reptiles generally create their green color?

by combining yellow and blue pigments

Most reptiles, amphibians and fish with green coloration create their color by combining chemical and physical methods of coloration. Usually, these animals have a layer of skin with a yellow pigment and have another layer of skin that scatters light and reflects blue. The combination of yellow and blue from these skin layers creates green.

by excreting green pigment from their gut

by absorbing green light wavelengths

Question 8 of 20

How is the coloration of an animal determined?

individually

environmentally

genetically

A parent will pass on the genes of physical and chemical coloration to its offspring.

Question 9 of 20

How have species developed their ideal coloration?

They have learnt what works best over the time.

Through the process of natural selection.

The process of natural selection has led to the development of ideal species coloration. Through the process of natural selection, animals which have better coloration are able to survive longer, meaning they have a better chance of reproducing. When they breed, they pass on their coloration to their offspring, so over time, a species with ideal coloration develops.

They were created with the ideal colors.

Question 10 of 20

Where do most mammals have coloration?

on their feathers

on their scales

in their fur

Mammals generally have camouflage coloration in their fur, because this is the outermost layer of the body. Reptiles, amphibians and fish have color in their scales, birds have color in their feathers and insects have color in their exoskeleton.

Question 11 of 20

Animals have developed special adaptations which allow them to change their coloration when their surroundings change. What is one of the biggest changes in an animal's life?

changing seasons

Colors will vary according to seasons -- the environment may be very green and brown in summer and white in the winter. Animals have learned to adapt to the environmental color changes that come with the changing seasons by developing different fur or feathers for different times of the year.

changing breeding habits

changing environment due to humans

Question 12 of 20

How do animals know when it is time to change color for the new season?

They sense a change in daylight.

They sense a change in temperature.

Both of the above.

Animals sense a change in daylight or temperature and this triggers a hormonal response that causes the animals to produce different biochromes.

Question 13 of 20

What is a problem for animals with feathers or fur when it comes to changing colors?

They have to start the process months in advance.

They have to grow an entirely new coat.

Since fur and feathers are dead tissue, like human fingernails and hair, an animal cannot alter their fur or feather color composition. This means that an animal has to grow an entirely new coat in order to change the color of its fur or feathers.

It is a very painful process.

Question 14 of 20

Why do chameleons primarily change their color?

to hide

to communicate

to express their mood

Chameleons primarily use color change to express mood. They can produce a wide range of colors and patterns on their skin.

Question 15 of 20

Biochromes found in skin cells deeper under the skin are called chromatophores. How do some species change the colors of their chromatophores?

They squeeze the chromatophores so the color comes to the top.

Animals that can change the color of their skin by altering their chromatophores have circular muscles around the chromatophores which can constrict and expand. When the muscles constrict, the pigment is squeezed to the top of the chromatophore which becomes flat and wide, making the color in it more prominent. When the muscle relaxes, the cell returns to its normal shape and the color becomes harder to see.

They can move the chromatophores to create different color shades.

They use certain chemicals to change the colors of the chromatophores.

Question 16 of 20

Nudibranches are a small creature that are able to change their skin pigments. How do they do this?

by changing their diet

Nudibranches change their diet when they want to change the pigments in their skin. They feed on a particular coral, which deposits its pigments to their skin. When the Nudibranch moves on to a new piece of coral, it eats it and changes color, helping it to blend into its new surroundings.

by rubbing against certain colored organisms

by excreting the pigment they don't want to use

Question 17 of 20

How do stripy patterns help animals to protect themselves?

Many animals can't see stripes.

It is hard to see where the animal's body begins and ends.

Stripy patters are usually out of line with the contour of the body. Therefore, it is hard to see where the animal begins and ends, making it hard for a predator to catch the animal.

Animals get spooked when the see stripes.

Question 18 of 20

Why doesn't it matter that a zebra's stripes do not match the colors around it when the zebra is trying to hide from a lion?

Lions are confused by color.

Lions are colorblind.

A zebra's stripes help it to blend in with the tall grass they usually live among. It doesn't matter that its stripes don't match the grass, because lions are color blind. A group of zebras is a good example of disruptive coloration, where they look like one large striped mass, rather than many individuals.

Lions cannot focus on lines.

Question 19 of 20

What image does a hawk moth caterpillar have on its back?

a snake head

The hawk moth caterpillar is an example of an animal that uses aggressive mimicry to keep predators away. Its back resembles the head of a snake, an image that would be quite frightening for most hawk moth predators.

a bear head

a spider head

Question 20 of 20

How else do animals use aggressive mimicry?

They color themselves in bright colors.

They color themselves like poisonous animals.

Both of the above.

Many poisonous animals have bright coloration. Animals have learned to steer clear of these species in order to stay safe. Some non-poisonous animals have developed the same coloration as poisonous species, so that animals will think they are dangerous and will steer clear of them, too.